My almost four year old daughter was running and smacked heads with a little boy. She stumbled off and away from him and he went in another direction and they both were crying with their hands over their faces. That is how I realized something happened; I did not actually see the collision. She cried hard for a good ten minutes and was very upset and quiet, not speaking for about twenty minutes. She only wanted to snuggle and bury her head in me. When she calmed down enough for me to get a good look at her, I saw her right eyebrow and below was swollen and red. The eyeball looked fine. She finally cheered up enough to eat lunch and get back to playing and she seems fine. However, it is now six hours later and the area is still swollen and red. Is this normal do you think? We spent the whole day outside after she recovered, so it wasn't that noticeable in the bright sunlight, but now that we are back inside I can see there has been no change or improvement. Someone told me any swelling near the eye can be a big deal as it puts pressure on the eyeball. Naturally my doc's office has closed. Any advice? She acts fine....but I'm really surprised the swelling and redness has not gone down AT ALL. It isn't bad....it looks like half a gumball maybe. Sigh.....help!!

By Cat on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 04:56 pm:

Not seeing it I'd say it's probably just a bruise, but if you're really concerned is there an urgent care center or somewhere like that you could take her? I know when I was hit on the bone above my eye it swelled so much it almost swelled shut. There was no pressure on my eye, but boy it's hard to see out of a little 1/8 in crack! lol I never went to the doctor or ER for it, but I'm convinced it was broken (it's been almost 3 years and there's still a little bump I can feel-but not see). Can you try a little ice? That really helped my swelling. Hope it gets better soon. It's hard when our babies get hurt. {{{{{Hugs}}}}} to you both.

By Hdelfuego on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 04:56 pm:

Shine a light in her eyes and make sure her pupils constrict. If they do and she hasn't thrown up she is probably fine. You could put some ice on it if you haven't already. I know this bc my dd fell out of her crib and on her head. When I took her to the dr. that's what he told me. Good luck! I know it's scary.

By Kate on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 05:02 pm:

Yes, both pupils constrict normally and equally. I forgot to mention that within the swelling there is a teeny tiny hard nodule, which has also been present the whole six hours.

By Colette on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 05:08 pm:

Can you call your ER and ask a nurse if you should bring her in? Or call your drs office and have the on call dr paged. Better to be safe than sorry.

By Rayanne on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 05:55 pm:

Did you put ice on it?

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 10:43 pm:

How is she now?

By Kate on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 10:37 am:

Thanks all, for your responses. She still acts fine this morning, but the swelling and redness is still there. I put a call in to the doc and they said she's probably fine. They had me have her track a toy to see if the eyeball moved in all directions, which it did, which means there is no pressure on the eyeball. They said the area has little cushioning so it will probably remain puffy and red for several days and the little knot might remain for months. So I guess nothing to worry about, thankfully!

By Kittycat_26 on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 12:34 pm:

We used to call these "gooners" at home.

By Tklinreston on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 12:57 pm:

Any kind of injury to the head is so scary - especially for the moms, but judging from all of the above posts, sounds like she will be fine. We have two little boys and all of our closest friends have boys too, and so when we all get together, there is a total of 10 boys (and not 1 girl) running around. Needless to say, bumping heads with one another is a frequence occurrance. Thankfully.. noone has ever been seriously hurt. I hope your little one is doing better.